The best Chelsea boots to help you step into the new season in style

Spring into the new season, with the best Chelsea boots

Best Chelsea boots for women feature image compilation of some of the best boots
(Image credit: Future)

Investing in the best Chelsea boots is a smart way to put your best fashion foot forward this season.

Chelsea boots are a classic style that are most recognized for their ankle-skimming, close-fitting silhouette. Due to their sleek shape, they often feature an elastic side panel for ease of fit and movement and many Chelsea boots also feature front and back loop tabs—these are largely there to aid you in pulling your boots on.  

A timeless silhouette, the Chelsea boot never really dates, which makes it a wardrobe essential in any footwear capsule wardrobe. A style you can wear season after season, the Chelsea boot is enjoying a fashion-high right now after making a reappearance on the runway and is firmly one of the big boot and autumn/winter shoe trends 2023 to watch out for.

While traditionally Chelsea boots have been quite a robust and practical piece of footwear, their recent fashion makeover has given them a new lease of life, spawning new and exciting iterations. From Chelsea boots with heels, to Chelsea boots with platform soles, this new crop of shapes promises a style for all tastes and occasions. Comfortable for walking but still stylish, the Chelsea boot is the piece of footwear to buy this season. 

Where to shop for the best Chelsea boots

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The best Chelsea boots as chosen by our style experts

best Chelsea boots for women wedge boot from Clarks

(Image credit: Clarks)

1. Clarks

Best for affordable Chelsea boots

Specifications

RRP from: $130 / £79

Reasons to buy

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Good price points
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Classic styles

Clarks is a heritage British brand and a name well trusted amongst UK shoppers. The shoe brand stocks everything from children’s to adult's shoes and is known for their quality and classic styles. While their selection of Chelsea boots is not vast, it does carry versatile silhouettes in a host of colors, meaning you can stock up on the basics to underpin your wardrobe. When it comes to styling a pair of Chelsea boots, there is no need to worry about 'what color suits me', but you should certainly think about what color clothing you have in your wardrobe and what shades of shoe you normally gravitate towards. 


Best Chelsea boots for women including Dr Martens

(Image credit: Dr Martens)

2. Dr Martens

Best for chunky Chelsea boots

Specifications

RRP from: $140 / £139

Reasons to buy

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Has vegan leather options
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Timeless
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Fashion styles available

The home of the stompy boot, the Dr Martens Chelsea boot is an absolute classic. This simple shape of boot is universally loved and as the brand has seen a resurgence in popularity amongst the fashion crowd, one of their key styles, also known as 2976 has enjoyed frequent updates and fashion makeovers. While Dr Martens boots are traditionally leather, the brand has introduced Dr Martens vegan leather 2976's as well as using the faux leather across a number of other styles. 

Generally quite a heavy boot, Dr Martens might not be the sartorial choice for every Chelsea boot lover, but while this hefty piece of footwear used to live on the fashion fringes, it is now firmly in the spotlight as one to invest in. Wear with everything from pretty midi dresses to the very best jeans for women.


best chelsea boots for women Dune London

(Image credit: Dune London)

3. Dune London

Best for smart Chelsea boots

Specifications

RRP: $135 / £95

Reasons to buy

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Lots of choices
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Fashion-forward styles

Dune London is a great destination for fashion-forward shoe options and with so many styles available across all footwear and handbag categories, you really will be spoilt for choice. With a mid to high-end price point, the boots can easily tip over the $100/£100 mark, but with such directional styles, you'll get both use and enjoyment out of Dune London pieces. While they might have London in the name, don't worry, this British brand ships all over the world too. 


best chelsea boots for women Jones Bootmaker boots

(Image credit: Jones Bootmaker)

4. Jones Bootmaker

Best for classic Chelsea boots

Specifications

RRP from: $77 / £57

Reasons to buy

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Great brand mix on the website
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Mix of price points
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Timeless styles

Jones Bootmaker, the clue is in the name. Another British heritage brand, Jones Bootmaker features a massive brand mix, from independents to more well-established, household names such as, Fly, Gabor, Karen Millen and Barbour. This means you can shop for lots of different labels all in one place and really compare styles, colors and prices. We love the range of classic Chelsea boots at Jones Bootmaker, they're the pieces you can keep in your wardrobe for years to come. 


Best chelsea boots for women Kurt Geiger

(Image credit: Kurt Geiger)

5. Kurt Geiger

Best for fashion-forward

Specifications

RRP from: $95 / £89

Reasons to buy

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Directional footwear 
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Different to other brands

Kurt Geiger packs a real fashion punch when it comes to forward-thinking footwear. Taking classic silhouettes, such as the Cheslea boot and giving it an updated look for the season ahead. Perhaps taking some inspiration from some of the biggest jewelry trends 2022, Kurt Geiger have leaned into embellishment for the upcoming season. Kurt Geiger boots are there to get you noticed, so keep the rest of your outfit fairly muted to allow them to shine.  


Best chelsea boots for women R.M.Williams brown boots

(Image credit: R.M.Williams)

6. R.M. Williams

Specifications

RRP from: $495 / £375

Reasons to buy

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Classic styles
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Well-made

Originally crafted for the Australian outback, these top-quality Chelsea boots can certainly handle you pounding the pavements. Established in 1932, R.M. Williams have become world-renowned for their high-end, but practical footwear. With a tradition in riding boots, these are a fairly big investment piece but one you can buy knowing you'll still be wearing them for years to come.


best chelsea boots for women trainer style from Russell and Bromley

(Image credit: Russell and Bromley)

7. Russell and Bromley

Best for timeless buys

Specifications

RRP from : £175

Reasons to buy

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Mix of fashion and classic buys
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Well-made

This British luxury shoe brand perfectly combines directional design with timeless silhouettes. Much like a Burberry trench coat, Russell and Bromley shoes and boots make for a great investment purchase and are synonymous with luxury and craftsmanship. If you're happy to splash out on some new Chelsea boots, think about color and silhouette to ensure you get the most wear out of them. Most styles will work just as well with dresses as with jeans, but opt for neutral brown or black for maximum versatility. 

How to style Chelsea boots

best chelsea boots for women, how to style chelsea boots

(Image credit: Getty Images)

If you've mastered how to style knee-high boots, you'll be pleasantly surprised to know that styling the best Chelsea boots is not that different. 

In previous years shorter boots were very much relegated to only being worn with boot cut jeans, but fashion rules, as they say, are made to be broken and in recent years, most decrees have been thrown out entirely. 

While Chelsea boots are traditionally ankle or sometimes a little higher, they're now universally worn with pretty much everything. Making them a really strong style to invest in this season. 

Whether you're wondering what to wear with a pleated skirt, or searching for the best boots to wear with your favorite mom jeans, a good pair of neutral Chelsea boots could solve a multitude of fashion dilemmas. 

The best Chelsea boots for women can be styled with full skirts, worn poking out from under trousers, pulled over jeans and even styled as part of your favorite leggings outfits

If you're worried about whether a Chelsea boot is as leg lengthening as the best knee-high boots, utilize accessories to help boost your pins. Stylists know that the more places your cut your silhouette with different hemlines, the shorter your torso and legs appear. If you're wearing your Chelsea boots with shorter skirts or dresses, wear a pair of opaque tights that match the color of your chosen boot. This will avoid an extra line on your silhouette and boost the appearance of your height in seconds. 

How to care for Chelsea boots

As Chelsea boots are short, they're wearable right through til spring and will still look cute with shorter summer dresses and shorts in the very early days of summer. But when it's time to swap boots for sandals, you need to make sure your boots are well looked after to get maximum wear and value from them.

Just like the best winter coats, at the end of the season make sure to pack your boots away in a good condition so that they'll be ready for the autumn. This means giving them a good clean and polish and seeing if any repairs need to be done. Get shoes resold and reheeled ready for the next season.

Making this part of your wardrobe routine at the end of a season will ensure you can keep your clothes, shoes and boots in good health and you can wear them for as long as you want. And when you're bored of them, they'll be such a good enough condition, you can even investigate how to sell clothes online and possibly make enough money to fund your next wardrobe.

Rivkie Baum
Fashion channel editor

Rivkie is a fashion editor, writer and stylist with twenty years' experience in the industry. Rivkie studied design and pattern cutting at the London College of Fashion, and fell in love with styling and journalism, and has covered fashion weeks in London, Paris and New York, as well as shooting editorial all over the world.


Specialising in plus size fashion, Rivkie has long championed that style is for everyBODY and has appeared on a host of radio stations and television shows, pushing for greater representation for plus size women and fashion throughout her career.